Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Specmaster]

I also had trouble getting the backlight LEDs out. They're sitting rather tight in the diffuser plastic. The traces on the PCB are very thin (there's absolutely no reason for them to be such). During unsoldering some traces+pads lifted off. 

This is easily avoided by cutting the leads to the LEDs, removing the cut leads and then clearing the holes.

I did check the other 4 (VDC, Resistance). 2 seem OK, but one of them shows resistances by a factor of 10 low when under ≈100 kΩ.

My 7150+ reads an order of magnitude low on the 2K and 20K ranges. I'm pretty sure the cause is the unobtanium COTO 7002-5086 relay. I managed to procure a spare (with a damaged case), but I haven't got around to testing it yet.

I agree its best to cut the legs off and then pull the LED out, but even then its not giving up without a fight, they are a real tight fit in the plastic holder. Also if your having trouble removing the cut off legs, you could cut and bend the new legs and then solder them onto the remains of the old legs.

[grizewald]

Yep, I suspected something around the range switches. Sometimes it works in the 10 k range, so it might be a contact problem. If I can't fix the on with the reboot issue, that'll become a parts mule.

I re-tested mine last night and noticed that it can be a little confusing to identify which resistance range has the trouble due to the way it auto-ranges, which doesn't work properly when it reads 10 times too low. Your 7150 has one less range than the 7150+ on resistance, so you have:

20K, 200K, 2M and 20M and I have
2K, 20K, 200K, 2M and 20M

The 2K and 20K ranges have the highest test current - 100uA - and from the circuit diagram, the relay RLD is what selects 100uA. If you connect a 15K resistor and manually change range, it will be shown as 15K once you switch to the 200K range but will be .15K on the 20K range if the relay is indeed the problem. In theory, the ULN2003 driver could also be the problem, but my money is on the relay.

[nixiefreqq]

Actually, happy ending. I finally found it with another neighbor. Unfortunately, the cord wrap feet on the back got shattered (old plastic), but other than that the 'scope is as the guy advertised and it is functional.

Yep, old HP 1700 series feet are garbage and often crumble. 

Beanflying has a 3DP model for replacements listed early on in his 3DP thread if you have or can get to a 3D printer.

Yeah, I was just thinking about that. I do have a friend who has a 3D printer. 

[edit] Got a chance to exercise the 1727A...it appears to be in excellent working order. The storage mesh works, and the persistence is great. Can get non-strobing traces at very slow sweep speeds, which is something neither my 7904A nor my 2465B are good at.

If you have any of the feet in measurable condition add it to the feet/knobs thread. My version apart from being most likely the correct length are fatter than the original and a double check on height would be worth it.

This is what's left.

these were fitted as a temporary fix.  (years ago).

a quick trip to lowes or home depot and badda bing…..1/2 inch pvc pipe is damn easy to work with.

(the original screws are too long but will work with some washers inside the new feet)

all 3 of my 17xx scopes now have them.   will replace them when something better comes along.

[med6753]

Does anyone have an update on the status and well being of of our fellow member Inverted1860 at all? I know that Med6753 was arranging a meetup to exchange some gear which never took place and we know that Inverted1860 was awaiting some medical treatment but that seems like months ago now???

My last email from Inverted18650 is he was getting some Fluke gear include calibrator, voltage standard from a college in mid Mar but no further email.

I still has his mobile contact, PM if you need.

I think med has number and it just rings, perhaps med will confirm when he reads this. It would be better if someone who has arranged things with him were to ring him rather someone on the other side of the pond?

Sent from my POT-LX1 using Tapatalk

No, unfortunately I don't have his number. 

Perhaps
Could I respectively ask you to PM syau who would give his number and then maybe you could call Inverted1860 and find out if he is OK or not? Two reasons, you have some unfinished business with him to resolve and your both in the USA?

Did you see GregDunn's response to this last night?

"I've been sending him regular emails but stopped getting replies about a month ago.  He did state explicitly that he never answers calls but will check voice mail if you leave it - same as with emails and text msgs.  I can only assume and hope that he's recovering and simply not able to reply for any of several reasons."

We all stopped getting responses around the same time.....about March 19th. Prior to that he was ALWAYS responsive. Not sure if calling will result in getting answers but I guess I'll be willing to try. Syau, if your reading this PM me his phone number.

[beanflying]

Watch out @med seems @nixiefreqq is after your Crown of Bodge 

Time for me to sleep my last widget of the day is on the printer. Hooks a GameSir controller for one of my baby Drones (Tello) to my Galaxy Tabs protective outer. Tiny tweak needed on the controllers current mount. No fastners just a 30 degree twist to lock in place. V1 shown just needed a Tweak.

Did I mention the reduction in Bodge with a 3D Printer and a bit of practice Not mentioned is the glut of hours in regaining and learning some new Cad skills along the way. I think it is worth it just need to figure out how to make it pay in the long term

[Specmaster]

Does anyone have an update on the status and well being of of our fellow member Inverted1860 at all? I know that Med6753 was arranging a meetup to exchange some gear which never took place and we know that Inverted1860 was awaiting some medical treatment but that seems like months ago now???

My last email from Inverted18650 is he was getting some Fluke gear include calibrator, voltage standard from a college in mid Mar but no further email.

I still has his mobile contact, PM if you need.

I think med has number and it just rings, perhaps med will confirm when he reads this. It would be better if someone who has arranged things with him were to ring him rather someone on the other side of the pond?

Sent from my POT-LX1 using Tapatalk

No, unfortunately I don't have his number. 

Perhaps
Could I respectively ask you to PM syau who would give his number and then maybe you could call Inverted1860 and find out if he is OK or not? Two reasons, you have some unfinished business with him to resolve and your both in the USA?

Did you see GregDunn's response to this last night?

"I've been sending him regular emails but stopped getting replies about a month ago.  He did state explicitly that he never answers calls but will check voice mail if you leave it - same as with emails and text msgs.  I can only assume and hope that he's recovering and simply not able to reply for any of several reasons."

We all stopped getting responses around the same time.....about March 19th. Prior to that he was ALWAYS responsive. Not sure if calling will result in getting answers but I guess I'll be willing to try. Syau, if your reading this PM me his phone number.

No I missed that reply by Greg, sorry, but I worry about people who were part of the daily chatter and then stop for no known reason, if he was living on his own then anything could have happened to him. If this was a club were we all met up in local pub for instance, then someone would have physically paid him a visit to check that he was OK and not in dire trouble long time ago, but we thousands of miles apart.

[nixiefreqq]

Watch out @med seems @nixiefreqq is after your Crown of Bodge 

Time for me to sleep my last widget of the day is on the printer. Hooks a GameSir controller for one of my baby Drones (Tello) to my Galaxy Tabs protective outer. Tiny tweak needed on the controllers current mount. No fastners just a 30 degree twist to lock in place. V1 shown just needed a Tweak.

Did I mention the reduction in Bodge with a 3D Printer and a bit of practice Not mentioned is the glut of hours in regaining and learning some new Cad skills along the way. I think it is worth it just need to figure out how to make it pay in the long term

now you have gone and done it.

no doubt the dragon has already started printing an actual "crown of bodge".

[mnementh]

   Time for me to sleep my last widget of the day is on the printer. Hooks a GameSir controller for one of my baby Drones (Tello) to my Galaxy Tabs protective outer. Tiny tweak needed on the controllers current mount. No fastners just a 30 degree twist to lock in place. V1 shown just needed a Tweak.

Did I mention the reduction in Bodge with a 3D Printer and a bit of practice Not mentioned is the glut of hours in regaining and learning some new Cad skills along the way. I think it is worth it just need to figure out how to make it pay in the long term

*Grudgingly agrees... mumblegrumble*

Don't you have anything to do besides trying to drag a crusty old tinkerdwagon into the 21st century? 

now you have gone and done it.  no doubt the dragon has already started printing an actual "crown of bodge".

Damn you, nixie!!! Now you got me thinking about how to draw that up!!! 

 

mnem
*still defiantly CAD-defective*

[nixiefreqq]

Watch out @med seems @nixiefreqq is after your Crown of Bodge 

Time for me to sleep my last widget of the day is on the printer. Hooks a GameSir controller for one of my baby Drones (Tello) to my Galaxy Tabs protective outer. Tiny tweak needed on the controllers current mount. No fastners just a 30 degree twist to lock in place. V1 shown just needed a Tweak.

Did I mention the reduction in Bodge with a 3D Printer and a bit of practice Not mentioned is the glut of hours in regaining and learning some new Cad skills along the way. I think it is worth it just need to figure out how to make it pay in the long term

went back and read the knob and foot thread.

3d printing does indeed appear to be an elegant solution, and much better than my plumbers nightmare fix for the hp17xx fractured foot plague.

diving down the rabbit hole right now would probably yield results in about a year and a half.  (and i'd be cursing you guys every minute along the way).

nope.  not gonna' do it.  spend most of my time looking at the phosphor end of the scope anyway.

[syau]

Does anyone have an update on the status and well being of of our fellow member Inverted1860 at all? I know that Med6753 was arranging a meetup to exchange some gear which never took place and we know that Inverted1860 was awaiting some medical treatment but that seems like months ago now???

My last email from Inverted18650 is he was getting some Fluke gear include calibrator, voltage standard from a college in mid Mar but no further email.

I still has his mobile contact, PM if you need.

I think med has number and it just rings, perhaps med will confirm when he reads this. It would be better if someone who has arranged things with him were to ring him rather someone on the other side of the pond?

Sent from my POT-LX1 using Tapatalk

No, unfortunately I don't have his number. 

Perhaps
Could I respectively ask you to PM syau who would give his number and then maybe you could call Inverted1860 and find out if he is OK or not? Two reasons, you have some unfinished business with him to resolve and your both in the USA?

Did you see GregDunn's response to this last night?

"I've been sending him regular emails but stopped getting replies about a month ago.  He did state explicitly that he never answers calls but will check voice mail if you leave it - same as with emails and text msgs.  I can only assume and hope that he's recovering and simply not able to reply for any of several reasons."

We all stopped getting responses around the same time.....about March 19th. Prior to that he was ALWAYS responsive. Not sure if calling will result in getting answers but I guess I'll be willing to try. Syau, if your reading this PM me his phone number.

PMed

[Specmaster]

Does anyone have an update on the status and well being of of our fellow member Inverted1860 at all? I know that Med6753 was arranging a meetup to exchange some gear which never took place and we know that Inverted1860 was awaiting some medical treatment but that seems like months ago now???

My last email from Inverted18650 is he was getting some Fluke gear include calibrator, voltage standard from a college in mid Mar but no further email.

I still has his mobile contact, PM if you need.

I think med has number and it just rings, perhaps med will confirm when he reads this. It would be better if someone who has arranged things with him were to ring him rather someone on the other side of the pond?

Sent from my POT-LX1 using Tapatalk

No, unfortunately I don't have his number. 

Perhaps
Could I respectively ask you to PM syau who would give his number and then maybe you could call Inverted1860 and find out if he is OK or not? Two reasons, you have some unfinished business with him to resolve and your both in the USA?

Did you see GregDunn's response to this last night?

"I've been sending him regular emails but stopped getting replies about a month ago.  He did state explicitly that he never answers calls but will check voice mail if you leave it - same as with emails and text msgs.  I can only assume and hope that he's recovering and simply not able to reply for any of several reasons."

We all stopped getting responses around the same time.....about March 19th. Prior to that he was ALWAYS responsive. Not sure if calling will result in getting answers but I guess I'll be willing to try. Syau, if your reading this PM me his phone number.

PMed

Thanks

Sent from my POT-LX1 using Tapatalk

[mnementh]

Oh, duck me. Went to the kitchen to make a sandwich; came back and my pc is at 30% of a major Windows Update. 

“Don’t turn off your PC. This will take a while. Your PC will restart several times. You may experience some lightheadedness as we install support for Thanos and the upcoming Armageddon.”

I guess it could be worse...



mnem
Sent by threatening an iPad with further “upgrades”.

[med6753]

After months of battle I have finally won the war. Here is the 465B/DM44 with the channel 2 attenuator deck transplanted from the parts mule. It works, on all ranges, with no flaky contacts. All it needs is a good compensation which should be a no brainer. 

I can FINALLY close out this project. 

[med6753]

Does anyone have an update on the status and well being of of our fellow member Inverted1860 at all? I know that Med6753 was arranging a meetup to exchange some gear which never took place and we know that Inverted1860 was awaiting some medical treatment but that seems like months ago now???

My last email from Inverted18650 is he was getting some Fluke gear include calibrator, voltage standard from a college in mid Mar but no further email.

I still has his mobile contact, PM if you need.

I think med has number and it just rings, perhaps med will confirm when he reads this. It would be better if someone who has arranged things with him were to ring him rather someone on the other side of the pond?

Sent from my POT-LX1 using Tapatalk

No, unfortunately I don't have his number. 

Perhaps
Could I respectively ask you to PM syau who would give his number and then maybe you could call Inverted1860 and find out if he is OK or not? Two reasons, you have some unfinished business with him to resolve and your both in the USA?

Did you see GregDunn's response to this last night?

"I've been sending him regular emails but stopped getting replies about a month ago.  He did state explicitly that he never answers calls but will check voice mail if you leave it - same as with emails and text msgs.  I can only assume and hope that he's recovering and simply not able to reply for any of several reasons."

We all stopped getting responses around the same time.....about March 19th. Prior to that he was ALWAYS responsive. Not sure if calling will result in getting answers but I guess I'll be willing to try. Syau, if your reading this PM me his phone number.

PMed

Thanks

Sent from my POT-LX1 using Tapatalk

Got it. Thanks Syau. I will try calling later today and I will report what I find out.

[Specmaster]

Thanks med

Sent from my POT-LX1 using Tapatalk

[worsthorse]

Do I need a Tek scope cart? Of course I don't. Am I going to buy a Tek scope cart?



Of course I am.   

* wch ponders his sanity given he's paid less for most of his scopes than he will for this cart.  

[worsthorse]

After months of battle I have finally won the war. Here is the 465B/DM44 with the channel 2 attenuator deck transplanted from the parts mule. It works, on all ranges, with no flaky contacts. All it needs is a good compensation which should be a no brainer. 

I can FINALLY close out this project. 

  

Nice work med! That one has been kind of a slog, hasn't it?

[mnementh]

After months of battle I have finally won the war. Here is the 465B/DM44 with the channel 2 attenuator deck transplanted from the parts mule. It works, on all ranges, with no flaky contacts. All it needs is a good compensation which should be a no brainer. 

   I can FINALLY close out this project. 

w00t! 

Ummmm...  what about that screw on the bench right there?

mnem
 

[0culus]

Nice to see that 465B up and running after the struggle! 

[bd139]

Indeed. Looking good. 

[Neomys Sapiens]

Spent the morning working on another TM plugin. I guess I should start a thread over in test equipment, eh?

I also posted a new message in the wanted thread (also on a couple of the groups.io threads) as I am looking for some new projects to add to the mix:

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/buysellwanted/wanted-tm500-plugins/


I probably won't keep most of these. The fun for me is learning how they work, cleaning them up, fixing the broken hardware and calibrating them.  There's some good engineerin' in these things!

Is there a list of what you are not going to keep? My current wish list is PG503(or 502), SG504, SW503, SA501, OR502, 067-1201-99, PG508, PG509, PG506, TG501A, CG551, RG501; roughly by priority but not exclusive.
Also looking for some more of the numbered ones and non-Tek modules.

Just fyi, another thread specifically for Tek TM series -> https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/tektronix-tm-series-test-equipment/

Thanks for the thread pointer. I will add that to my watch list. You and I are looking for most of the same plugins, I think. I will post a list when I have a few more finished and figure out what, if any, I am going to keep.

That figures. Happens when you have the basic ones.

[Neomys Sapiens]

Watch out @med seems @nixiefreqq is after your Crown of Bodge 

Somehow I had exactly the same thought when seeing the plumbing supplies.

[med6753]

I called the number given to me for Inverted18650. Got phonemail and while it didn't identify the number as his I left a message anyway. I identified who I was and from the blog. I indicated that we were all concerned that we hadn't heard from him in over a month and we hope he was OK. I asked him to call me directly or log on and let us know how he's doing.

If I get a call back I'll let everyone know.

 

[VK5RC]

After months of battle I have finally won the war. Here is the 465B/DM44 with the channel 2 attenuator deck transplanted from the parts mule. It works, on all ranges, with no flaky contacts. All it needs is a good compensation which should be a no brainer. 

I can FINALLY close out this project. 

Lovely to see after a real challenge. Well done.

@med - thanks for following up re inverted... Pass on our wishes for rapid return to TEA!

[beanflying]

Watch out @med seems @nixiefreqq is after your Crown of Bodge 

Time for me to sleep my last widget of the day is on the printer. Hooks a GameSir controller for one of my baby Drones (Tello) to my Galaxy Tabs protective outer. Tiny tweak needed on the controllers current mount. No fastners just a 30 degree twist to lock in place. V1 shown just needed a Tweak.

Did I mention the reduction in Bodge with a 3D Printer and a bit of practice Not mentioned is the glut of hours in regaining and learning some new Cad skills along the way. I think it is worth it just need to figure out how to make it pay in the long term

went back and read the knob and foot thread.

3d printing does indeed appear to be an elegant solution, and much better than my plumbers nightmare fix for the hp17xx fractured foot plague.

diving down the rabbit hole right now would probably yield results in about a year and a half.  (and i'd be cursing you guys every minute along the way).

nope.  not gonna' do it.  spend most of my time looking at the phosphor end of the scope anyway.

Just for interest because I have never done it before looked at getting the 17xx feet contract printed by one of the usual suspects. 3Dhubs.com plenty of others out there along with likely someone nearby you. Pricing is in AUD so X about 0.7 for USD.

I set these up with the same parameters I recommended in the knobs and feet thread PETG adds a little to the price and would be easy to select.

Producing prints in PLA with say an Ender Pro is 2 hours build time and fairly much tick a box programming to slice existing models and insert a micro SD card. Reality would be watch some videos on youtube and you will have your first print in 3 or 4 hours of opening the box.